Why Tasha Page?

As many of you know, Page isn't my last name. Since the launch of my website I have been asked numerous times why Tasha Page? To answer that, I thought I would give you a sneak peak of chapter two in my new book We're All Doing Our Best scheduled to be released next month (stay tuned for the official release date):

Tasha Page to ה‎ש‎טא‎

The name that is on my birth certificate is Tasha Page Johnson. My mother fell in love with the name Natasha from a novel she was reading while she was pregnant with me, and my father vetoed the name because he didn’t want to think of a moose every time he called his daughter (here’s to you Bullwinkle). So they settled on Tasha, which means “Christmas child.” I was born in June. This made no sense to me growing up, and to add insult to injury, my father intentionally spelled Page without the “I.” The movie The Pagemaster came out in the ’90s when I was a child, and once the other kids found out that my name wasn’t spelled Paige like the pretty girl in class, it was unceasing ridicule for this girl who always had a Goosebumps book in her hand. I had been officially renamed "The Pagemaster" by my peers, much to my annoyance. Thank God he only gave me boys, so I wasn’t tempted to pass the name down to my daughter.

Instead of becoming upset with my peers, I became bitter with my name and my parents, whom I deemed cruel for giving me that name. I held onto that resentment long enough that the first thing I did when I got married was change my middle name to my maiden name. Solved that problem! Little did I know this would not be the conclusion to the story...

I started taking Biblical Hebrew classes with HaSefer Ministries at Baruch HaShem Congregation in 2020 (shameless plug: If you live near San Antonio, go check them out). In that class, my morah (teacher) challenged me to spell my name in Hebrew. One of the things I love most about Hebrew is that each letter of the Aleph-Bet has a pictorial meaning, which gives words a more profound interpretation. There are two letters for “T”: ט and ת. The pictorial meaning for ט is “snake,” and ת is “covenant.” I didn’t want the snake one, so I chose to spell my name ה‎ש‎א‎ת‎ which would make my name meaning, “To reveal a consuming covenant.” Since I’m in a covenant relationship with Christ, I considered this a personalized hug from God that He loves me, and there was indeed a deeper purpose to my name. My name wasn’t an accident, and that the Christmas child born in June was intentionally named with purpose from the beginning. I wore my name as a badge of honor and with new pride. God’s sense of humor never ceases to amaze me. To keep me from becoming too proud, I learned a year later in a modern Hebrew class I had to use the ט spelling since the ת spelling creates the “Th” sound. My name isn’t “Thasha”, although the thought of changing my name once again did cross through my mind. So ה‎ש‎טא‎, the revealer of consuming snakes it is. Just so you don’t say I didn’t live up to my name, I should tell you that you should know there is a consuming snake introduced to us in Genesis 3 that is still trying to consume all of us at this very moment. Run Forest, run!

We can’t run from our destinies. A good starting point for finding your destiny might be in examining your name. The Bible has example after example of individuals who lived up to their names. Abraham, the “father of many,” is the paternal figure for the three major world religions. The name of his grandson Jacob means “supplanter” (accurate), which was changed to Israel (meaning “he who wrestles with God'') after he wrestled with the angel of the Lord. Throughout the Old Testament, we see the Israelites wrestle with God repeatedly in the wilderness so that this name would seem accurate for God’s chosen people. Satan translates to “adversary,” which many of God’s children can attest is accurate as we go to war with him daily.

The name above all names (Philippians 2:9-11), ישוע Yeshua, or Jesus as Christians know Him, translates to “salvation.” Dave Adamson points out in his book 52 Hebrew Words Every Christian Should Know that when Jesus went to the house of Zacchaeus and said, “Today salvation has come to this house,” that he was making a pun because that is what Jesus came to earth to do, and it was also his name's meaning. Who said God isn’t a funny guy? I mean, the guy clearly has a sense of humor. Look at the platypus. The meaning of Yeshua’s name gives a deeper significance to verses like Isaiah 12:2: “Surely God is my salvation.”

What does your name mean? Even if it means “swine” like Portia or “ugly head” like Kennedy, the definition might not be why you were given that name. There are no accidents in God’s kingdom. Sue discovered in good ole Johnny Cash’s classic hit A Boy Named Sue that his name wasn't a cruel mistake after all. His father saw the bigger picture. He gave him the name Sue to make him tough enough to survive a cruel world fatherless since he knew he wouldn’t be able to be there for him. He walked away from that conversation with a few bruises and a greater appreciation for his name. Your future depends on how you choose to remember your past. Like a trapeze artist, you can’t hold on to the past, but you can use it to launch you into your future destiny.

Thank You!

Thank you for your time. I can't wait to share the rest with you! Then you will find out why there is a dove in my logo, and more importantly how we are all doing our best. Our stories matter. Let’s explore ours together!

I have been made aware that the forums page will not let anyone else post on them. Apparently there is a technical glitch in the system, and WIX has been working on it about a week now to fix it. My urgency isn't their urgency, just as God's ways are not my ways. So I have been given an opportunity to learn the patience I have prayed for. As soon as it is up and running I will post an update. Thank you for your patience!

God bless,